Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 20, SPA -- Western societies should try harder to understand Islam to curb misconceptions and bringan end to prejudice against Muslims, Malaysia's foreignminister said Monday. The image of Islam has deteriorated worldwide "primarily as a resultof association with extremism, radicalism and poverty,"Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told a seminar on Islamand international politics. "There is indeed a wide gap between the predominantlyChristian West and the Muslims," Syed Hamid toldacademics, religious representatives and diplomats at theevent jointly organized by a Malaysian think-tank and theFrench Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. "It is imperative that the phenomenon now widely known as'Islamophobia' is stopped dead in its tracks," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. "In this regard, more inter-civilizational dialogues should be organized to foster deeper understanding andbridge the gap." Syed Hamid _ whose country chairs the 57-nationOrganization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largestMuslim political grouping, blamed some of the problems on"distorted" reporting in the international media thatlink Islam with terrorism, poverty and backwardness. "The negative profiling of Islam needs to be changed,"he said. "Islam and Muslims must not be viewed withsuspicion or as an enemy of the West. It is a religion ofpeace and justice."--SPA1324 Local Time 1024 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/271273